Very quiet on here at the moment. What are people's thoughts on this preliminary round match? I think that Donegal should edge it but it's really hard to say based on league form. We were unlucky to be relegated but Cavan deserved to be promoted. This one might come down to the wire.
The winner of this game should reach the Ulster final. Donegals record in MacCumhaill Park makes them favourites. Cavan chances of causing a upset is much less if Dara McVeety doesn't play.
Yeah, I read that McVeety was out alright. He's a big player for them. Hopefully the boys can do the business on Sunday and then we can look forward to playing Derry in Celtic Park in a fortnight's time.
I don't know why, and I am basing this on absolutely nothing, but I think Cavan might just might catch Donegal here.
So on that hunch, Donegal to win by 10 pulling up :P
Is this on TV?
BBC 2 NI are showing it deferred at 19:00.
Dont fancy us at all. Load of injuries in the camp. Plus at the end of the day we do not have players like McBrearty, Murphy and McHugh. Hope I am wrong but bookies are 4/11 Donegal and 11/4 Cavan.
You'd have to fancy Cavan to at least give this a rattle? Cruised through to promotion back to Div 1 meanwhile Donegal went the opposite way, albeit very unlucky to do so. I liked their style of play in the league but defensively they were wide open. If that continues then Cavan will win comfortably.
Not sure they will win handy but maybe fancy cavan for this too.
I could have made a case Cavan if McVeety was fit but without him its hard to see Cavan beating Donegal.
Whats the consensus in Donegal about Bonner? Donegal have the makings of a very good team inside the next few years but I wouldn't be convinced Bonner is the right man.
Good going forward ... wide open at the back.
That's our motto for this year. I think people at home appreciate that we are playing more attacking football and that we have some very talented young players come through. But I need to see us with a better defensive structure and something of a kick-out strategy. We are going to ship a lot of goals this year. Jury is still out on Declan for me.
The word in cavan is mcveety, Martin Reilly, caoimhin Reilly and Sean Johnston are all out. The 1st 3 were key players in league.
I'd have said Cavan would have pushed Donegal to the pin of their collar if we were at full strength, but with the injuries and the fact it's in MacCumhaill Park, I can't see anything but a Donegal win here. McVeety a massive loss, and a massively criminal loss too when you consider the amateur hour way in which he picked up the injury.
2-20 far too much to concede in a championship game time for Cavan, time to go back to basics and to what made them successful at U21 level (a defensive game plan)
Quote from: Captain Obvious on May 13, 2018, 07:33:24 PM
2-20 far too much to concede in a championship game time for Cavan, time to go back to basics and to what made them successful at U21 level (a defensive game plan)
They couldn't have played anymore defensivly today. Just didn't have the players to carry out the game plan. A few key men missing but to many bluffers on the team, chief amount them moynagh.
To top it of a manager that wouldn't be county standard imo.
Quote from: redzone on May 13, 2018, 07:54:06 PM
Quote from: Captain Obvious on May 13, 2018, 07:33:24 PM
2-20 far too much to concede in a championship game time for Cavan, time to go back to basics and to what made them successful at U21 level (a defensive game plan)
They couldn't have played anymore defensivly today. Just didn't have the players to carry out the game plan. A few key men missing but to many bluffers on the team, chief amount them moynagh.
To top it of a manager that wouldn't be county standard imo.
Have watched the full match back on BBC. Donegal could sail a cruise liner through that Cavan defence today and they really should have scored about 6-25 or more. Derry and Down worse sides than Cavan will have a better defensive plan in place v Donegal.
Men against boys but absolutely no obvious plan in place. Depressing stuff for cavan. There were no positives for Cavan today but I'm sure Mattie will find some.
Matty is a breath of fresh air always positive.
Quote from: Itchy on May 13, 2018, 08:39:34 PM
Men against boys but absolutely no obvious plan in place. Depressing stuff for cavan. There were no positives for Cavan today but I'm sure Mattie will find some.
And there's Tyrone fans on this forum that think he should have replaced Harte in Tyrone already.
mattie a very good manager he just doesnt have the players in cavan. actually a major achievement for them to be in div 1 next year. harte would do no better with them.
Quote from: skeog on May 13, 2018, 09:40:11 PM
Matty is a breath of fresh air always positive.
Mattie's job is to prepare and send out a Cavan team to be organised and competitive especially when the business end of championship football comes around. Self promotion and looking for the thumbs up from national media pundits is not what he was hired for. Coaches who send out a team to be beaten but fall back on the chestnut that "we play football the right way" (whatever F*@~!#$ way that's supposed to be) are charlatans. Fair enough Donegal have better footballers than us at the moment and it was always going to be a big ask so why go out to play to their strengths. You develop attacking football against teams you can compete with. We wore our Sunday best on a few occasions during the league but today was a day for the hobnails. He's earned a bit more time for himself but his uber positivity is starting to grind on my ears.
Quote from: southtyronegael on May 13, 2018, 11:01:41 PM
mattie a very good manager he just doesnt have the players in cavan. actually a major achievement for them to be in div 1 next year. harte would do no better with them.
I hope this is a poor attempt at trolling, because this guy is a total bluffer. Can't understand how with their underage success and their financial backing that Cavan couldn't identify a better manager for what is a golden generation of Cavan footballers. Chances like this don't come along very often in counties the size of Cavan and it looks like they've been landed with a turkey that makes Terry Hyland look like a genius.
The sight of McVeety being sent out half-crocked to try and rescue a lost game will surely have infuriated Cavan supporters.
Quote from: southtyronegael on May 13, 2018, 11:01:41 PM
mattie a very good manager he just doesnt have the players in cavan. actually a major achievement for them to be in div 1 next year. harte would do no better with them.
We drew with Clare. Beat Louth, Meath, Cork, Down and Tipp. Good campaign where we rode our luck on a few occasions. Please point out the wins you'd class as major achievements, the teams with the vastly superior player talent or the games where his tactical masterclass pulled it from the fire?
Championship exposed the frailties quite badly here. Getting into division 1 will have possibly bought mcgleenan a bit more time but if the qualifiers go poorly too as seems probable off this, will he get the road I wonder?
Going back to defensive football and the natural inferiority complex it engendered in this group of players/repeated failures when victory beckoned, is not the answer. Especially when we have such talented youngsters again coming through at schools and minor. Losing by smaller margins is still losing.
Quote from: southtyronegael on May 13, 2018, 11:01:41 PM
mattie a very good manager he just doesnt have the players in cavan. actually a major achievement for them to be in div 1 next year. harte would do no better with them.
Give it up fella. Cavan conceded 4-16 in a div 2 league final and any inter county manager worth his salt would have been working on shoring up that defence for the championship. Conceding 2-20 today and Donegal able to drive a bus through the middle of their defence was just poor management. Cavan have plenty of good players to compete, certainly at Ulster level anyway, given their success at U21 level in recent years, but it doesn't help when the manager takes off those that are actually playing quite well. Matty, unfortunately was proven to be out of his depth today, I'm afraid and even his post match comments come across as being naive. Fingers crossed, he won't get within an asses roar of the Tyrone job.
Cavan played like a team that accepted defeat before game. Division 2 was bad this year.
Quote from: Rudi on May 14, 2018, 10:50:58 AM
Cavan played like a team that accepted defeat before game. Division 2 was bad this year.
That's what it looked like and we were led to believe that they were all in for this one. It felt like a challenge game between a senior club and a junior club.
there is a big difference between d1 (bar maybe Kildare) and the rest. I wonder how good Roscommon will be this summer...